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Happy holidays to everyone and thanks for the dedication to this site. I appreciate all the comments, both sage and moronic, well maybe not so much of the latter. I also want to thank the silent majority of those of you check out the site but don’t comment.

But enough with gratuitous holiday cheer, in fact it was Yuletide celebrations that has me hopelessly behind on the team awards for those who haven’t heard, here they are:

Thomas Herrion Award: Fullback Brit Miller - given to the fringe player who best takes advantage of his opportunity. Herrion was a popular offensive linemen who died of cardiac arrest in Denver after a a 2005 exhibition game.

Vernon’s a winner

Bob McKittrick Award: Guard David Baas – Given to the offensive linemen who best exemplifies the “dedication, excellence and commitment of the team’s late line coach.

Bill Walsh Award: Linebacker Patrick Willis – Given to the team MVP, Willis is likely to have a stack of these before he’s through. The 49ers might want to sign him by the way.

Len Eshmont Award: Tight end Vernon Davis - This is the biggie, the award voted on by players and awarded to the team’s most “inspirational” and “courageous” player. Interesting choice here. If the team is following the letter of the award with inspiration and courage, I can easily see why Davis won. He’s dedicated, he’s really matured and he’s probably the most physically gifted 49ers. But, the mistakes from the drops (he leads the league with 11) to the penalties (11, which puts him in the NFL top ten in that category), to the wandering routes, makes you wonder how he won the Eshmont.

Baas was also a tiny bit surprising. His play was questionable in the middle of the season, but he was battling wobbly ankles at the time. He has come on lately (with the exception of Philly) particularly with his pulling.

OTHER MATTERS: What’s far more perplexing than Davis winning the Eshmont is the 49ers play the last two games. They played two titans in the NFC, the reigning conference champion Cardinals and the Eagles, a perennial playoff power. They handled one (Arizona) with relative ease, then got handled themselves in Philly. Why? Why the huge disparity in play from one week to the next?

The 49ers did play the Eagles on a short week, which reduced them to barely over one day of practice. But that’s not reason enough for the bi-polar performances. After some investigating (going over both game tapes carefully) here are some conclusions.

Coaching – This staff was completely out-manuevered Arizona particularly on defense with sophisticated coverages and plenty of blitzes that forced Kurt Warner out of his rhythm. Warner threw an interception early when the 49ers fooled him with a two-man rush and nine in coverage. Warner never recovered. Warner said no team game plans them better than the 49ers.

In Philly, however, the staff was clearly out matched. In the second half alone, Eagle blitzers broke through unblocked four times, and each time in only a five-man pressure. They also fooled Alex Smith into two interceptions, one on a deep route to Davis and another when Asante Samuel looked like he was playing man when he was actually in zone.

They also had a horrible plan for stopping DeSean Jackson, who ran by the secondary often. The 49ers refused to put a safety deep over the top and often they moved run-stopping strong safety Michael Lewis to Jackson’s side instead of using the fleeter Dashon Goldson.

So one might conclude that the 49ers game plan well when they know their opponent. They are more comfortable blitzing or throwing nine players in coverage. But against an unfamiliar foe, they are back on their heels more. Singletary said the 49ers will win when players start trusting their own abilities and each other. He should also send that message to his coaching staff.

Style of play – The Eagles played more aggressively than Arizona, by blitzing often and playing more press coverage. The Cardinals played two men back most of the time and rarely pressed.

Offense down the stretch: Against Arizona up by 15 with nearly eight minutes left, the 49ers completed two passes to keep the drive alive and burn the clock. Down by a touchdown in the third quarter, the offense fell apart in Philly. On first down, Gore galloped for 37 yards, then Chilo Rachal got called for holding, Smith completed a short pass, and on third down, a blitzer came free up the middle and Smith had to throw the ball away. Philly then scored a touchdown, and on the ensuing drive, Davis dropped a short pass and Rachal and Snyder had protection breakdowns, leading to an incompletion, and then Snyder has another protection problem and Smith was sacked on third down. Game over.

Inconsistency – Goldson and Ahmad Brooks were huge against Arizona, but surprisingly tiny in Philly.

You wonder how well the 49ers scout and prepare for teams they don’t play that often. Singletary is constantly saying it’s not about the other team, it’s about what the 49ers do. Nevertheless, the 49ers need to do a better job taking the opponent into consideration.